Bell Family Company Blog

Tag Archives: cooking

With back to school season upon us, those complex, time-consuming meals are left back in the days of summer.

Summertime is a great time to experiment with recipes because you often find the kids preoccupied, and time is in your favor. Finally, those recipes that have been pinned to your Pinterest board for the past year get some action!

But what happens when the kids go back to school, your calendar sees little free time, and dinner should have been on the table 30 minutes ago?

Instructions:Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Place chicken breasts in a baking dish.
Use a spoon to cover chicken with pesto.
Top each chicken breast with one slice of mozzarella cheese and two slices of tomato.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Broil the chicken the final two minutes so that the cheese is bubbly and golden.

The Creative Kitchen Kids Food Festival is a celebration to educate families about making balanced food choices to help create wholesome lifelong eating habits for both kids and parents. The weekend-long event offers a host of family-friendly activities including food demonstrations, live entertainment, food sampling, the Balanced Plate Scavenger Hunt, giveaways, and more! The event is free and open to the public for General Admission.

And for those enthusiastic eaters and little epicures alike, you can attend hands-on cooking classes at the James Beard Foundation Future Pavilion, where renowned chefs pass on their recipes, skills, and love for all things culinary to a new generation of learners!

Visit the website, on the Kids Food Festival Facebook page, and on Twitter at @KidsFoodFestFun to stay up-to-date on all things about the event.

When it’s time for dinner, we often turn to the same short-list of recipes. It usually includes something that is fast to make, has minimal ingredients, and added bonus if the recipe is memorized.

We want to help shake up your recipe box by getting some new and fresh meals onto your family’s plate. A great way to do this is by trying out the new dish below. It’s yummy, and will make you feel like Spring is right around the corner!

Are you looking to eat healthier in 2017? Well, you are in luck, because we are introducing one of our new favorite food delivery services – Veestro.

One of our Bell Family sitters, Rebecca Wong, recently took a job with Veestro as their Marketing Manager. Below, she tells us how Veestro works, how it’s different from like-brands, and why it’s great for both sitters and families everywhere!

Q: What is Veestro and how does it work?

Veestro is a gourmet food company that delivers plant-based, chef-prepared meals directly to our customer’s doors in all 50 states. No need to stand in a store line. All meals are ordered online. There are a variety of meals for everyone, ranging from Thai noodles to quesadillas to cheesecake. Everything is made fresh then delivered frozen for extra convenience. Veestro isn’t just for vegans and vegetarians. It’s for anyone who loves food and likes to eat healthy. Veestro is gaining momentum in the media, with recent features in InStyle, GLAMOUR, Men’s Fitness, and PopSugar, as well as TV features on ABC, FOX, The Doctors, and NBC’s Harry with Harry Connick Jr.

Q: With you being a sitter yourself, why would you recommend Veestro to our other sitters? What sets it apart from like-brands?

As a sitter, Veestro makes it convenient to eat on the run, and even bring meals to appointments. You just heat and eat. Each meal is perfectly portioned and cost an average of $10. There are plenty of meal programs that make clean eating simple, and there are tons of gluten-free options. All ingredients are organic, dairy-free, cholesterol-free, preservative-free, and non-GMO. If you handle kids with allergies, this is your safest bet food-wise.

Q: Why is Veestro a great idea for families?

Veestro is perfect for families because it cuts out the prep work, and fulfills all the nutritional needs of both growing kids and adults. There are endless benefits to eating more plants, and this is a brilliant way to get kids to enjoy veggies. They especially love the pizzas and “chicken” nuggets. There are several meals that come family-sized to share, and the more you buy, the lower the costs. A family can order 12 meals for just $99, with free shipping.

Happy Summer everyone! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been desperately waiting for some nice weather! With nice weather comes nice, fresh produce. I frequently hit up the local Farmers Market as well as my Dad’s garden; can’t get much better than that! I’ve been preparing meals lately that are colorful, healthy, and full of nutrients. I think I’m finally getting my husband on board with these “healthy meals”. Now I just have to work on my kids.

This month I’m going to highlight two tasty salads I found that can easily be matched with a grilled piece of chicken, fish, or steak. They’re sooo good and both make decent sized portions that you will be able to enjoy the next day. Happy eating!

InstructionsBring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the corn, cover, and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the corn from the water and let cool. Meanwhile, place the chopped red onions in a small bowl and cover with water. Let sit about ten minutes, then drain completely in a sieve and set aside.

Place the beans in a sieve; run under cold water to rinse well. Let drain completely and set aside.

Holding the cooled corn upright in a large bowl, cut the kernels off the cob in strips. Add the beans, red onion, red bell pepper and cilantro.

Make the dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor; process until smooth. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or, preferably, overnight.

Right before serving, slice the avocado in half. Remove the pit; using a butter knife, cut a grid in each half. Holding the avocado halves over the salad, use a spoon to scoop out the diced flesh. Toss the salad gently, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (I usually add a squeeze of fresh lime to freshen it up). Garnish with a bit of fresh chopped cilantro if desired. Serve cold.

InstructionsCook the edamame according to package direction (I cooked mine in microwave with a little water). Let them cool completely. Place them in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.

In a large bowl add water with ice – you will need this for the green beans. Blanch the green beans in boiling water for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Drain green beans and immediately add them to the ice water. This is called shocking and stops the cooking process and also keeps the green beans bright green! Remove them from the ice water after a few minutes and pat them dry.

Add the edamame, green beans, and the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl. Gently toss together and enjoy.

We are happy to bring you the third installment of our monthly blog special where BFC’s own, Courtney Bell Garvey, gives us a delicious new recipe for you to try.

Grandma Knows Best

I’d like to dedicate this post to my grandma who passed away recently. She was the inspiration behind my love of food and cooking, and would make meals that would bring the family together. They were meals that were always hearty, flavorful, and caused your taste buds to dance. She had such an ease to her cooking and would keep hungry mouths coming back for more. Besides the delicious array of pies and casseroles, there was one dish that ranks at the top of the charts; Grandma’s Chicken Paprikash.

I’d like to share this recipe with you straight out of the Hungarian cooking book that my grandma passed down to me. Enjoy!

Mix all ingredients together and beat with a spoon. Drop batter by teaspoonful into boiling water. Cook about 10 minutes; drain, rinse with cold water. Drain well and add to paprikash. Chicken paprikash may be served with fried noodles instead of dumplings.